Y'know ...

[unixronin]

... I still say that both of our Presidential candidates suck.  (And that's in the "wet farts out of dead pigeons" way, not the good way.)

But I gotta admit, after today's perhaps-surprising news, I think our Vice-Presidential choices — or the Republican one, at least — just got a whole lot better.  Sarah Palin appears to be sane, honest, and fiscally responsible, and she's not afraid to out corrupt members of her own party.  She cleaned house in the Alaska state legislature.  Further, it looks as though she stands by her principles, but is willing to calmly accept being overruled or proven wrong, and she's not afraid to publicly change her mind.¹  Her approval ratings in Alaska are frequently in the 90s.  When she ran for Mayor of Wasilla in 1996, she made a campaign promise to cut her own salary — and kept it.  Then when she ran for Governor of Alaska in 2006, she made a campaign promise to sell the IAI Westwind II executive jet purchased (on state government credit) by the Murkowski administration ... and kept that promise, too.

I mean, DAMN!  Can't we, you know, swap the ticket around and make McCain VP?  C'mon, folks, our first female President doesn't HAVE to be a Democrat.

[1]  "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.  He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.  Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day." — Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841

Comments

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Of course, she also seems to be a religious fanatic like W. Bush. And her executive job credit prior to becoming governor on the anything-but-the-last-corrupt-guy ticket was mayor of a city of 5500 people.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

Her executive experience is still greater than McCain + Obama + Biden. Governor of a state over twice the size of Texas, surrounded by foreign countries, should count for something.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

If moose could vote, maybe--the state's population is about 20% more than the city of Seattle. And I've heard that the Canadian border is very troublesome. After running a successful Democratic Presidential bid, I don't think we can say that Obama lacks executive experience any more, either.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Uhhh .... I'm sorry, but I just can't let that one go. Running a Presidential nomination campaign, even a successful one, does not, in any way, shape or form, constitute executive experience, any more than applying for a job with UBS Warburg and getting an interview constitutes experience in international finance.

Remember, too, Alaska is a lot closer to Siberia than to any part of the continental United States.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

And most of Minnesota is under water. You can pick nits with almost any state. Simple fact: She has been governor for two years. No other candidate or VP choice can make a claim of executive experience on that level.

Running a campaign, where most of the people like and support you, is far different from leading a government, where there are vocal people who oppose you and want you to change. I am not saying Obama can't cut it as president. But, the simple fact is, he does not have government executive experience. (Neither does McCain.)

(I was actually leaning toward Obama until he picked Biden for a running mate. Biden is poison to the issues I care about in government. If you thought King George was bad...)

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

... they refueled that nit before they realized it wasn't an airplane.

I'm sure that Obama was really feeling the love from Hilary Clinton's supporters--not!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Of course, she also seems to be a religious fanatic like W. Bush.

Debatable. She weighed in saying that both creationism and evolution should be on school curricula, yes ... then reversed her position and said that creationism did not need to be on the curriculum, and that she certainly would not use creationism/evolution views as a criterion for selection for the Board of Education.
And she's pro-life, like many other people, but unlike Dubya, does not believe that contraception is De Debbil.
Then, she's personally opposed to gay marriage; but she vetoed a bill that would have barred the State from granting same-sex benefits to gay couples, after consulting with the State AG and being advised that it was probably unconstitutional. Now, you can take that as "she only vetoed it because the AG said she had to", but it could just as well be "Wait a minute here, can we even DO this?"
Seems to me she has a clear religious viewpoint, but refuses to allow her religious views to get in the way of doing her job as objectively and fairly as she can. And really, what more can you ask than that?

And her executive job credit prior to becoming governor on the anything-but-the-last-corrupt-guy ticket was mayor of a city of 5500 people.

In which, as she has in the State legislature, she showed herself honest and fiscally responsible. She's now the governor of a state which, to many practical purposes, may almost as well be an independent nation, surrounded as it is by foreign nations, and doing a damned good job of it by all accounts. Meanwhile, Barack Obama has three terms in the Illinois Senate (two of them partial) and one in the US Senate, in none of which he managed to distinguish himself enough to really appear on the radar screen until he decided to run for President.

So what's your point exactly...?

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

She sounds like a standard covert creationist to me (http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/2006/10/27/intelligent_design_and_the_ala/). Palin is strongly anti-abortion, and only makes an exception on abortion for the life of the woman -- excluding even rape and incest. (The info was on the blog of the Alaska chapter of Schlafly's Eagle Forum and have been taken down, but was still in Google's cache.) As for the size and borders of Alaska, oh come on already. You are talking about a state with less than 20% of the population of Boston and a peaceful open border with Canada. The state legislature is in session for three months out of the year. On the other hand, Obama has been known as someone to watch for some time; he just wasn't known to you. A presidential campaign is a chaotic national organization, working under time pressure, hard to organize, lead, and finance. Obama put it together and made it work. I think that takes at least as much executive competence as being governor of a state where the legislature meets three months out of the year.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

The other major border is with Russia.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Flash! Siberia attacks Alaska. Film at...

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

About 2.5 - 3 years back, I read some research about human attitudes involving matters of opinion (Like politics, religion or some sciences.) It turn out then when someone has made up their mind on an issue, further facts are selected to reinforce their decision. Any contrary facts are discounted, justified away or just plain ignored.